New Diet Plan

After much debate and deliberation I have decided on my new dietary plan for the next phase of my training. This training cycle is going to last ten weeks and will end around the beginning of July. The goal for this training cycle is to try to build back some strength that was lost during my previous training cycle while continuing to lose weight (though at a much slower rate). I am currently aiming for a loss of 2-3 pounds a week which will equal a loss of 20-30 pounds over the course of the ten weeks. This is more of a rough guideline rather than a rigid number like my last training goal was. I will be satisfied with any steady loss of weight.

My plan is to consume 2000 calories a day for Sunday through Thursday. On Friday I will consume my normal dietary plan until the afternoon which at that point I will begin a day and a half of refeeding. The macro-nutrient ratio I am shooting for is 50% of my calories from protein, 30% from carbohydrates, and 20% from fats. The protein is more set in stone than the carbs and fats. Some days I might consumer more fats and less carbs and other days vice-versa. The important thing is getting in 250 grams of protein a day and keeping my calories to 2000 calories. At four weeks I will evaluate both of my goals (building back strength and dropping fat) and make small adjustments to my diet if deemed necessary.

There is not set rules for the refeed day. Pretty much no limits within reason. Based on how many calories a day I need to consume to maintain my weight I have come up with a rough number of calories I can consume on that day and a half and still lose about two pounds a week. It is unlikely I could even hit that number without really gorging myself. I have found that erroring on the side of eating more during a refeed works better for me than erroring on the side of eating less.

Again though if I feel like I need less time I will drop it down to refeeding for only a day or I might up it to refeeding for two complete days if I think I can make better progress.